Courtney Baker-Richardson’s agent has paid tribute to the striker’s determination to turn his career around – going from non-league to the Premier League – after being rejected by Coventry City.

The 21-year-old was today due to complete his move to Swansea City on a two year contract at the Liberty Stadium, just three years after being released by the Sky Blues where he’d been since the tender age of 12.

Although he managed to make his first team debut under Steven Pressley he was let go and went from pillar to post trying to get a contract in the lower leagues.

Trials at Torquay and Kidderminster failed to produce a contract offer before brief spells at Ilkeston and Romulus. He then signed for Kettering but was released, played a couple of games for Nuneaton but wasn’t offered a deal and then struck lucky at Leamington where he was top scorer for two years running, helping the non-league side gain promotion last season.

Now, just three months later he has had two top flight clubs – Leicester City the other – after his signature and was today due to be unveiled at Swansea City.

Courtney Baker-Richardson (right) with his agent Lee Marsh

“He has got a great mentality and wants to succeed so much,” said his agent, Lee Marsh.

“I have got many players that get released every year, and I had two others at Coventry at the time Courtney left, and as good as they were they probably didn’t have the same mentality.

“When you come out of an Academy these days it’s very difficult to accept the level at which you are going to have to play. Academy football is somewhat robotic and you fit into playing that way and then, all of a sudden, you go and play League Two, Conference, Evo-Stik, Ryman whatever it is and it’s a massive adjustment because you’re playing against men and it’s almost like playing basketball. You get knocks, kicked around and told you are this and that and it’s hard to accept that.

“Courtney accepted it and got knock-back after knock-back, rejected by six or seven clubs, but I stuck with him and totally believed in him because of his mentality. And he got bigger, quicker and stronger.”

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Marsh admits the young player didn’t always help himself, revealing: “Sometimes I think people made bad decisions on him but at the beginning his attitude wasn’t great and we can look back and have a laugh about it now.

“Some people say it’s bad attitude or being big headed, but I just think it was confidence.”

Courtney Baker-Richardson attempts overhead kick

He added: “He finally found Leamington where he got his opportunity and ended up leading goal scorer two years on the trot. It was back to front football, which is very difficult, but he became a major part of that and just grew as a person.

“So three years out of Coventry and he’s turned it around and it’s a great success story for any kid who is let go.”

Marsh says he contacted the Sky Blues earlier this summer to ask if they would be interested, revealing: “I offered him to Coventry in the pre-season before Swansea and Leicester were interested and they said no, which is a shame.

“This is not a criticism of the club but I think it would have been the perfect time to sign a local boy and come on and score goals at pretty much a cost of nothing. I don’t see where the risk would have been.”

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As for how the big move to the Swans came about, Marsh said: “It all started with Swansea who had him watched quite a lot last year and they liked the specimen that he is.

“He’s an athlete; big, strong and quick and scores all sorts of goals.

“He’s no twinkle toes but he’s an out and out athlete and he upsets defenders, rolls them around, chases lost causes and he’s a handful.

“I asked Swansea if they were seriously interested so we knew where we were at, and to ensure it wasn’t just going to be categorised as Under-23s so that there was always going to be an opportunity to play first team football. That was very, very important.

“I alerted the Leamington manager, Paul Holleran, who has been absolutely as good as gold all the way through.

“He’d rung Leicester and although they didn’t know much about him it was still an opportunity for him to go and see what they had. He went there for two days and they also wanted to sign him.

“But I think that was more geared around the Under-23s than progressing into the first team.

“Out of respect to Swansea we went there to talk to them and did that for a couple of days where he was shown around the club and the area. He met the first team and had lunch with the chairman, Huw Jenkins, and Nigel Rees the academy manager, both of whom were top drawer people and they said they wanted to sign him.

“So for two Premiership clubs to come in for him at once is a fantastic achievement.”

Courtney Baker-Richardson in action for Leamington

As for whether he thinks the centre-forward, who lives in Nuneaton, can make the jump up, he said: “I have drummed into him it’s the same game of football just different people, and you can either raise your level or you can’t.

“I think a lot of kids don’t aim high enough rather than settling for one level.

“The move is a fantastic opportunity and there was no way he could turn it down.

“He’s prepared to move away from home, 170 miles or whatever it is, and I think he will grow as a person and be more concentrated on his football.

“If he’d gone to Leicester, 20 minutes from where he lives, he’d have stayed with the same mates and his concentration levels might not have been the same. But moving away I think he’ll mature that much quicker.”